In light of two separate investigations by federal prosecutors into Rep. George Santos’ campaign, the Justice Department reportedly persuaded the Federal Elections Commission to refrain from taking any action against the New York lawmaker, Fox News informed.
According to the Washington Post, which cited unnamed sources, the FEC’s Public Integrity Section also asked for pertinent records, indicating that the commission may be looking into Santos’ campaign financing.
After lying about his educational background, his family’s genealogy, and his employment experience, Santos has acknowledged to “embellishing” his resume during his congressional campaign. He is also now under more scrutiny for his campaign spending.
Thomas Datwyler, a campaign finance treasurer who was apparently named in fresh papers as Santos’ new treasurer, claimed this week that he didn’t work for the congressman and had declined the job offer.
According to the New York Post, the FEC warned Datwyler and the campaign earlier this week that it is against the law to knowingly and deliberately make any materially false, fake, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government entity, including the FEC.
In a statement, Datwyler’s attorney claimed that they had let the Santos campaign know that Datwyler would not be acting as treasurer. The filings [Wednesday] that they did not authorize appear to be at odds with that talk.
Another complaint from the Campaign Legal Center challenges the $700,000’s purported genuine source. According to the Washington Post, Santos said that he had last year loaned his campaign money.
Former FEC commissioner David M. Mason told the Washington Post that they don’t want to have two investigatory teams tripping over one another and that they don’t want the FEC, a civil agency, to do anything that would make their criminal case more difficult.
The request “indicates there is an active criminal investigation,” according to Brett Kappel, a campaign finance attorney, to the newspaper.
The FEC informed Fox News Digital that it was unable to comment on the article.
Requests for response from Fox News Digital were not immediately answered by the DOJ or Santos’ office.
Be the first to comment